Import James Mays pays off after San Mig continued to trust him despite a rough debut

Import James Mays had a rough outing in his first game with San Mig Coffee against GlobalPort.

But Mays showed that he still has some more things to offer by erupting for 29 points and 29 rebounds in a 90-80 drubbing by the Mixers of crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra in the "Manila Clasico" showdown at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.

He delivered great numbers despite the presence of Ginebra's twin towers in Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter in addition to all-around import Leon Rodgers.

Trusting Mays

The energetic import is just grateful for the trust and confidence given to him by coach Tim Cone and the entire San Mig team.

Mays had a quiet 15 points and six rebounds while struggling to find his shots in the Mixers’ 91-75 torturing of Globalport in a game that saw him got into foul trouble.

“I’m just glad they had a lot of confidence on me. And for me, all I had to do was play hard and everything fell into place,” he said after his monster game.

“I was kinda down the last game because I wasn‘t able to perform the way I wanted to,” Mays admitted. “But we got the win, that’s all that matter.”

Cone's Admiration

San Mig coach Tim Cone was all praise for Mays that during his post-game interview, he dubbed Mays as “Mr. Everywhere,” owing to his strong motor skills that allows him to go for the loose ball and grab every rebound possible.

To which Mays replied: “That’s a great compliment coming from coach. They got a lot of good imports come here before me.”

Still, Mays credited the win to his San Mig teammates.

“I just tried to play hard, but I owe it all to my teammates because they encouraged me in practice, and lately, pushing me more because they knew what I can do,” said a beaming Mays.

The 28-year-old Mays’ 29-point rebound effort is just one shy of tying the conference-high 30 boards recorded by Talk ‘N Text import Richard Howell registered during the Tropang Texters’ 85-72 win over Alaska on opening day.

With how the Super Coffee Mixers play, expect them of having a great chance of making it three titles in a row.

--- with reports from Spin.ph

Import James Mays pays off after San Mig continued to trust him despite a rough debut
Reviewed by Jay-R Bayon-on
on
3/16/2014
Rating: 5